FORMER CHIEF JUSTICE AHARON BARAK WILL BE THE JUDGE ON BEHALF OF ISRAEL AT A HEARING AT THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE IN THE HAGUE THAT BEGINS NEXT WEEK, YNET REPORTED ON SUNDAY. The first hearings will be held on Thursday and Friday.
Barak is the most famous Israeli judge in the world. In the past, he sat on many Supreme Court panels that heard petitions relating to issues of security and international law. These rulings were translated by the administration of the courts into English. Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara, who recommended Barak's election, believes that his personal story as a Holocaust survivor will also have significance in the discussion.
The Hague case filed by South Africa is based on the 1948 Convention on the Prevention of Genocide, to which Israel is a signatory along with 142 other countries. The convention states that in case of disputes, any country can appeal to the ICC, where the petitioner does not have to be the one harmed, since genocide is a universal issue (a similar discussion is currently taking place in Gambia's lawsuit against Myanmar). Israel will appear in the process and will not boycott it – it cannot deny its signature on the treaty and may be harmed if it ignores the discussion.
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